Chapter 1207. Cleaning Up (2)

Chapter 1207. Cleaning Up (2)

Lee Hyeon-Su ran as hard as his body would allow him to reach the Martial Assembly, but the sight waiting for his arrival left him utterly speechless.

Corpses!

All he could see were corpses littering everywhere!

The open-air sports field, massive enough to have spare room even after half of the Martial Assembly’s people lined up on it, was now filled with bodies of once-alive humans.

“

Uh

...”

𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

Lee Hyeon-Su could confidently say he had witnessed quite a few gruesome scenes as a member of this side of the world. But this grisly spectacle still left him searching for appropriate words.

‘R-right, where’s the Assembly Master?!’

After finally getting to terms with a land filled with corpses, the first thing he remembered was Kang Jin-Ho.

Without a doubt, the man responsible for creating this horrifying spectacle was Kang Jin-Ho. In that case, where was he now?

Only then did Lee Hyeon-Su notice a group of people gathered off to a side in the distance.

‘Are they...?’

For a second there, he thought that it was a group of enemies. But he soon relaxed his clenched fists after recognizing the faces in the group.

“Demon Flames?”

Why were the people supposed to guard the east coast here?

Just as Lee Hyeon-Su’s thoughts reached that far, one of the group turned his head.

Wasn’t that Yi Myeong-Hwan?

Yi Myeong-Hwan urgently shouted, “Chief Lee! Where is Director Wiggins?!”

“He, uh, he’s...”

“Bring him over, right now! Hurry, sir! We don’t have much time!”

Lee Hyeon-Su realized something bad must’ve happened and snapped his head to look behind him.

Wiggins, who was climbing up the hill, grimaced deeply while grabbing Vator. “Hurry!”

“

Kuk

!”

Vator picked Wiggins up and rushed over to the group of the Demon Flames.

Every mini-earthquake-like step covered an unbelievable distance. The big man arrived at his destination in the proverbial blink of an eye, then put Wiggins down next to Yi Myeong-Hwan.

“Master!”

“My lord!”

The two men freaked out at Kang Jin-Ho’s wretched state.

“What the hell?!”

“How, how did this...”

Yi Myeong-Hwan shouted at the stunned Wiggins. “What are you doing, sir! Hurry!”

“...!

Ah

!”

Wiggins urgently pressed both hands on Kang Jin-Ho’s chest, then cast ‘Heal’.

He reflexively sighed in relief after noticing Kang Jin-Ho’s chest subtly rising and falling. The latter’s condition had been so grave that Wiggins instinctively thought of death, after all.

‘Just how did something like this even...!’

Wiggins did think Kang Jin-Ho might be in danger.

Shinichi-kai should never be underestimated. Also, there was another factor to consider here.

If Kang Jin-Ho had been in the company of the Demon Flames or the Assembly’s finest, he could’ve won against the Japanese with little to no damage. However, the story would change significantly by fighting them all alone.

Facing off against a thousand enemies as a soldier in an army of thousand was demonstrably better than being a lone combatant against the same enemy, after all!

Even if that was true, however...

Although Wiggins’ head could accept Kang Jin-Ho getting hurt to this degree, his heart couldn’t understand how it was possible.

Kang Jin-Ho didn’t get hurt this badly while fighting against the Elder Knights, so how?

“Explosives? Is that it?”

Wiggins’s expression stiffened when he heard Vator growl quietly.

Only then did Wiggins also pick up the unpleasant stench of explosives.

He angrily spat out, “They’ve crossed the line. To think they’d resort to explosives in a fight between martial artists!”

“Don’t be daft, Wiggins. You should be resorting to any means necessary to kill your enemy. Isn’t that what a true martial artist should do?”

Wiggins’ expression crumpled, and he turned his head to glare at Vator. However, his scowl instantly came undone after noticing the look on the big man’s face.

Who would criticize Vator after seeing his face currently distorted to resemble a hideous demon, and all the veins bulging on his forehead? The big man must be half out of his mind with sheer rage right now.

“Will he be okay, sir?” Yi Myeong-Hwan anxiously asked.

This guy’s state was no better. Yi Myeong-Hwan’s face, currently a mess of tears and snot, was also distorted hideously in killing intent.

Looking at his expression of worry, fear, and rage roused this vague chill to run down Wiggins’ spine.

If Kang Jin-Ho died here, how would Yi Myeong-Hwan react?

‘He probably can’t be controlled anymore.’

The only way to stop his rampage would be to beat him up to death. However, Yi Myeong-Hwan was no longer a pushover. Unless one was on the similar level as Vator or Bang Jin-Hun, no one in the Assembly should be strong enough to win against Yi Myeong-Hwan.

Worse still, that story applied only when Yi Myeong-Hwan was alone. If all the Demon Flames here, who were staring at Kang Jin-Ho while holding their breaths, started rampaging around in rage...

That wouldn’t be a simple matter at all.

Wiggins honestly replied, “It’s... too early to be sure.”

Grit!

He then heard the loud gnashing of teeth.

Cold sweat trickled down Wiggins’s back. Someone like him was getting tense from the intense killing intent gushing out of Yi Myeong-Hwan.

“Keep your mouth shut and calm down,” said Vator in a still voice.

Yi Myeong-Hwan shot a hostile glare in the big man’s direction, but Vator remained calm.

“We all want to rush over to Japan and kill every single bastard behind tonight’s attack. However, my master’s survival is hundreds of times more important than that. So, stop spewing killing intent next to a patient getting much-needed first aid!”

“

Oh

...”

Yi Myeong-Hwan animatedly nodded, then suppressed his killing intent as much as possible.

Wiggins found Yi Myeong-Hwan instantly transforming into an obedient little kid at the mention of Kang Jin-Ho’s survival quite spooky to behold.

‘What a terrifying level of obedience that is!’

Wiggins viewed being a part of an organization as a type of contract, so he found this kind of behavior indecipherable. Of course, he was emotionally more invested in the Martial Assembly compared to when he was a member of the Round Table, but Yi Myeong-Hwan’s devotion still far exceeded that.

If that notion was flipped around, it meant Kang Jin-Ho’s domination over the Martial Assembly was unquestionable.

“

Eugh

...!”

Wiggins gasped without even realizing it.

Healing magic required an inordinate amount of mana. And it was not omnipotent, either. If Wiggins was being brutally honest, taking the patient to a hospital would be a hundred times better than relying on healing magic.

The only thing he could do right now was improve Kang Jin-Ho’s condition before taking him to a hospital. In other words, he shouldn’t be entrusted with the job of bringing Kang Jin-Ho back to full health.

Unfortunately, even that proved difficult for Wiggins. He spent too much mana while rushing over here. And Kang Jin-Ho’s condition was far too grave, too... So how was he...

Wiggins suddenly freaked out and snapped his head in one direction. In the blink of an eye, cold sweat poured down his face like a rainstorm. A figure of a man now dominated his vision, blurry from all the sweat filling up his eyelids.

That was when the terrifying killing intent intense enough to crush Wiggins’ entire body vanished without a trace.

“...!

Huff, huff

!”

Wiggins reflexively coughed deeply. His vision cleared up enough to register Chang Min and his stiff expression.

“...My liege.”

Chang Min closed his eyes. It seemed he was trying his best to suppress his killing intent.

Chang Min spat out a quiet groan before cautiously approaching Kang Jin-Ho.

“My liege. This servant has been too foolish and inadequate and failed to protect you.”

Chang Min calmly pushed Wiggins aside while kneeling down. Wiggins wasn’t sure what Chang Min was trying to do, but didn’t dare raise the voice of objection.

It was unwise to provoke a wounded beast, after all.

Besides, Chang Min in his current state was several hundred times more dangerous than a mere wounded beast. Not even Vator dared to stop the elder of the demon cult.

Chang Min remained silent as he studied Kang Jin-Ho’s still figure. His liege lay on the ground, his entire body riddled with grievous wounds.

Chang Min clenched his fists tightly enough to nearly shatter his bones. Soon, pure-red blood began trickling out of his clenched fists.

“

Fuu-woo

...!”

Chang Min sucked in a deep breath before cautiously placing his hands above Kang Jin-Ho’s dantian.

Rumble, woooonng...

That was when the pitch-black demonic qi began mushrooming out of Chang Min’s figure.

Rumble...!

The pitch-black demonic qi billowed like flames before getting sucked into Kang Jin-Ho’s dantian while making bizarre noises.

Everyone’s jaw fell as they watched this strange spectacle. Although they had no idea what was happening here, one thing seemed certain. This act had to be something significant.

As it absorbed the demonic qi, Kang Jin-Ho’s body started floating up off the ground ever so slightly. Chang Min’s expression remained resolute and somber as he focused on pouring in demonic qi into his liege’s dantian.

...As if he was finally fulfilling his lifelong wish.

But then!

Grab!

Kang Jin-Ho’s corpse-like state abruptly ended when his hand grabbed Chang Min’s wrist.

“M-my liege...”

Kang Jin-Ho slowly opened his eyes and revealed how cold and withdrawn they were.

Chang Min cautiously withdrew his demonic qi after figuring out the meaning behind that look. Kang Jin-Ho’s levitating figure gradually settled down.

“Assembly Master, sir!”

“My lord!”

“Master!”

An irrelevant thought suddenly popped up in Yi Myeong-Hwan’s head just then. Maybe they should unify how they addressed Kang Jin-Ho sooner rather than later!

“

Cough

!”

Kang Jin-Ho coughed loudly, then pushed his torso up while scowling deeply. He looked to be struggling, so Wiggins helped his lord up up by placing his hand on Kang Jin-Ho’s back.

“...Chang Min, that’s unnecessary,” said Kang Jin-Ho.

“But, my liege!”

“This isn’t as bad as it looks.”

Kang Jin-Ho groaned softly.

‘I can’t even get a little bit of rest.’

It was true that his injuries were serious, but not to the extent of raising a fuss like this.

He wasn’t dying, anyway, so why was Chang Min resorting to pouring his own qi into Kang Jin-Ho? What a strange mindset that was.

Even though that was as expected of Chang Min, but still!

Kang Jin-Ho glanced at Wiggins next. “What’s the situation?”

“I beg your pardon?

Ah

...

Ah

, yes! Of course, it’s...” Wiggins gasped before urgently looking around.

However, what was he supposed to say here? When his mind hadn’t settled down yet?

That was when Yi Myeong-Hwan chimed in. “Sir! We’ve eliminated every member of Shinichi-kai’s elites who invaded the Assembly grounds! No one has escaped alive!”

Chang Min reported next. “The demon cult elders are currently searching for the presence of potential enemies hiding nearby or possible enemy reinforcements. They will contact us if we have a new situation. You can rest easy, my liege.”

“...”

Wiggins clamped his mouth shut.

Whenever something like this happened, it felt as if his worth got shaved away. By large chunks, too.

Wiggins’ strong suits were related to formulating an overarching plan and mobilizing combatants accordingly. But his ability to respond on the fly when something unexpected happened was poor. He grew painfully aware of this fact recently.

Wiggins did wonder why Chang Min arrived so late, but as it turned out, he was assigning demon cult elders in strategic positions to deal with any unknown additional threats. That was something Wiggins hadn’t even thought of until now.

Wiggins couldn’t help but hold an even greater appreciation toward Chang Min.

“My liege! You must go to a hospital! Your condition is far too grave!”

Kang Jin-Ho shook his head. “No, I’m fine.”

“But, my liege...”

“Chang Min?”

When Kang Jin-Ho calmly called out his name, Chang Min stood up straight like a soldier standing at attention.

Kang Jin-Ho sighed under his breath.

“Thanks for worrying about me. But now isn’t the time for that.”

Maintaining one’s peak physical condition was one of the most important tasks for a martial artist. However, everything had its time and place. Now wasn’t the time to focus on healing his injuries.

“Also...”

Kang Jin-Ho slowly got up. Blood splotches on his skin had dried up into scabs. As for the flesh scorched by the flames, it cracked apart into pieces and fell off. New flesh was already generating underneath, however.

It was as if Kang Jin-Ho was shedding his dead skin.

“My condition is, well...”

Kang Jin-Ho glanced at his body before scowling in unhappiness.

His scorched and hardened skin falling off was a good thing, but his clothes also had turned into powder and scattered away. With things like this...

Kang Jin-Ho scanned his surroundings before fixing his gaze on Yi Myeong-Hwan, then pointed at him.

“Yi Myeong-Hwan.”

Yi Myeong-Hwan knelt down and passionately cried out, his face a mess of fresh tears. “Yes, Assembly Master! Give me your orders! I swear to carry them out to the best of my abilities...!”

“Take them off.”

“...Sorry?” Yi Myeong-Hwan asked back, his eyes opening wider.

“I’m talking about your pants.”

“...!”

“Hurry up.”

“...Yes, sir.”

Yi Myeong-Hwan wiped his tears away, then cautiously took his pants off.